SBS asks communities to help shape future language services – SBS has opened a public consultation on the draft criteria it will use to decide which languages it serves. Audiences, community organisations and other interested groups can respond until Friday 13 November 2026.
The consultation is part of the SBS Language Services Review 2026/27, a five-yearly process aligned with the national Census. The broadcaster says it needs to assess changing community needs before deciding how its multilingual news, information and storytelling will be delivered.
For audiences, the immediate decision is not a new language schedule. It is a chance to influence the criteria SBS will later apply to Census data. Revised language services are not expected to begin until December 2027.
What SBS wants feedback on
The draft Selection Criteria explain how SBS proposes to weigh the needs of large language communities and groups with greater service needs. The proposed factors include community size, English-language proficiency, how recently people arrived in Australia, experiences of racial discrimination and humanitarian circumstances.
SBS will also examine how programmes should be scheduled and delivered across radio, podcasting, digital television and online platforms. That part of the review recognises that multilingual audiences do not all consume content in the same way.
The broadcaster currently produces original, locally relevant audio content in more than 60 languages. Its previous review led to services such as SBS Malay, whose executive producer Zaini Ahmad is pictured with the release.
Why the five-year review matters
SBS Acting Director of Audio and Language Content Pamela Cook said the review is intended to keep the service relevant as Australia’s population changes. She said SBS has provided multilingual media for more than 50 years, helping people understand public issues, connect with their communities and participate in Australian life.
Cook said the broadcaster must balance the needs of large and established language communities with those of emerging and high-needs groups. She encouraged people across Australia to examine the draft criteria and comment on how SBS should assess multilingual media needs.
The approach means feedback now could affect future decisions about language selection and platform delivery. It does not mean a language will be added or removed immediately, and SBS has not announced a final service list.
How to take part and what happens next
Public consultation opened on Monday 5 October and closes on Friday 13 November 2026. SBS has published the draft Selection Criteria, an Easy English guide and a feedback route on its language-services review page.
SBS plans to publish the final criteria in May 2027, before the release of 2026 Census data. It will then apply the criteria to that data alongside other considerations, with revised services scheduled for introduction from December 2027.
The timing gives communities a distinct opportunity to debate how needs should be measured before the Census figures are used, rather than reacting only after a new language list is announced.
Read TV Central’s report on SBS’s multilingual 2026 Census resources. View the draft criteria and submit feedback via the public SBS Language Services Review page.